Looking for a free COVID-19 test? Pharmacies and public health units are out – CBC
People should be cautious using expired COVID-19 tests, pharmacists say
Sep 26, 2024
Londoners looking for free COVID-19 rapid antigen tests may be out of luck as many pharmacies and public health units are out of stock.
Several independent pharmacies in London say they have not been able to order take-home COVID-19 tests for their stores since the Ministry of Health discontinued its free testing program last year.
“Once they expired, we had to dispose of them, and we just weren’t able to order more,” said Michael Bosta, a pharmacist at Hamilton Pharmacy in east London.
The ministry announced it would stop distributing free tests to pharmacies and grocery stores last June. Any boxes of tests that Londoners may have seen between then and now would have been leftover supplies.
“We have many callers all throughout the day that think they are positive and they are looking for a test,” said Iriny Ibrahim, the manager at Phillbrook Pharmacy, noting it’s increased to about 20 people per day in the past month.
